


Miami Vice

by HaughtFox



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Camren - Freeform, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-13 19:18:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13577250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaughtFox/pseuds/HaughtFox
Summary: Dirty apartment, dirty mind, dirty cop?Camila Cabello works for the Miami Police Department, never does her laundry and eats too many hot pockets. Self-destructive and hot headed she tries to navigate her way through her late twenties.What will happen when she finds the one thing that challenges her "nothing to lose" mentality.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

 

“Are you sure about the whole ‘no names’ thing?” the brown haired woman currently pressed up against Camila Cabello’s apartment door asked.

 

Camila nodded against the woman’s neck and huffed out: “Yes, names just make things complicated.”

 

“That’s a bummer. I hoped I could scream it while you fuck me.”

 

That made the brunette stop, pull back and look at the other woman with a smirk. 

She had these great, green eyes that now looked at Camila mischievously, hoping the smaller brunette would let her know her name now. 

 

“You’re confident.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Who said I’d fuck you?”

 

“What, you don’t want to? You already kinda did back at the bar with your eyes, the way you were staring at me, so… unless you have a set of severed heads in your freezer or a gazillion newspapers stacked up to the ceiling I suggest you…” the nameless girl nodded down to the door knob. 

 

“Well, I guess that ends the night here then.” Camila let go of the other brunettes hips, motioned her to step aside and unlocked the door with her key. It was dark inside the apartment and Camila stepped inside, leaving a confused looking girl standing outside her door, looking like she had just seen Elf on on the Shelf do blowbacks with Michael Jackson. Camila was leaning against her door frame, her arms crossed. “You know, Steven and Steven wouldn’t appreciate you making fun of their living situation. Yes my fridge is cold, but it’s better than nothing.” 

 

“You have a fucked up sense of humour. And you said Steve twice.”

 

“Oh I know and no, I said SteveN. With an N. Steven Hicks and Steven Tuomi were Jeffrey Dahmer’s first two victims” she said with a shrug, still looking at the green eyed girl with an unreadable expression. 

 

“Okay, now I’m scared.”

 

“Don’t worry, I only cut guys’ heads off. Gotta stay on brand.”

 

“You’re crazy!” the taller brunette laughed, shaking her head. 

 

“A crazy good fuck” Camila winked pulling the other girl by the hand into her still dark apartment. 

 

As soon as they closed the door behind them Camila had the other woman pressed against it, her hands trying to touch every part of the other’s body seemingly all at once. Hard kisses and small moans were coming from either woman as they started navigating through the dark in search of the bed, their lips never leaving each other. The tall stranger was walking backwards now trying to slip off her shoes in the process when she bumped into a big object which seemed to come out of nowhere. 

 

“Uh ouch!” she rubbed the back of her head.

 

Camila laughed against the other woman’s mouth and small ‘sorry’ escaping her lips as she steered the other girl around the punching bag suspended from the ceiling in the middle of her studio apartment. Camila was tipsy but she swore her bed had to be around here somewhere.

They would stumble over it eventually, since it was just a mattress on the floor. 

 

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” her conquest screamed when she took her eyes of Camila for a second. “THERE’S A GUY!”

 

Camila whipped around to look in the direction the other woman was pointing, ready to kick some creep-burglar ass. It took her second to properly focus when she laughed out loud, holding her belly hunched over, tears forming in her eyes. 

 

“WHAT’S SO FUCKING FUNNY! DO SOMETHING! CALL THE POLICE!” the other woman shouted at her, now backed away against the wall between the two windows of the apartment. 

She was a bit drunk but the creepy looking dude that was standing a few feet away from the punching bag sobered her right up. Even though the street lights coming in through the half opened blinds didn’t give much light, she could see that he was angry as fuck. 

 

“I-“ Camila tried to catch her breath but had a hard time calming down I- I got” she straightened her back up her hands now on her hips “I got ya” she finally let out. Her one night stand (well not yet, who knows, maybe the taller girl will die of a heart attack before Camila can actually fuck her) looked at her with wide eyes and Camila just pointed her fingers, mimicking a gun, at the creep-burglar and went ‘pew pew’. “Tom Hagen, you’re under arrest! FOR LOOKING MIGHT FINE!” 

 

The other girl, frozen in shock and confused, just watched as Camila causally walked over to the grim looking dude. The imminent danger of a man in the apartment suddenly forgotten and replaced by nothing but confusion, she watched on as the smaller woman draped her arm around his shoulders, patting him and looking at him with a tipsy grin. “How you been?”

 

This is when her guest noticed the guy lightly jiggling from side to side. 

 

It was a punching dummy. No arms, no legs, no threat. 

 

She hunched over and let out the huge breath of air she didn’t know she was holding. Hands on her knees, now panting heavily. 

 

“What do you say you give me and that lovely lady over there some privacy?” Camila nodded in the dummy’s direction. The ‘lovely lady’ was now smiling relieved, the thought of dying prematurely at 28 now forgotten.

 

“What?” Camila leaned her head over, pretending like the dummy was whispering something into her ear. “Oh yeah, I know, her ass is out of this world!” she fake laughed and slapped the dummy on the chest and grabbed him to turn him away from the two women. 

 

“Very funny” the other girl smiled at her. 

 

“What?” Camila walked over and pulled the other women toward her by her hips until their lips were only an inch apart. “You’re ass is space balls amaze balls” she winked. Those cheesy lines were what got the woman with the green eyes and the amazing ass to go home with Camila in the first place. When Camila ordered a beer at a pub earlier that evening, she noticed the woman sitting a few bar stools over, reading a book.

 

 

 

 

 

_–_

 

_“You must be a library book… because I can’t stop checking you out.” Camila had said, winking and pointing at the stranger. “No seriously tho, watcha' readin’”? she asked the woman drinking a whiskey neat._

 

_“It’s a list of pick up lines that make me run for the hills. Oh look! In first place it’s ‘You must be a library book… because I can’t stop checking you out.’ “ she said in a mocking tone._

 

_“Well maybe this one will make you run for my bedroom” Camila said, suggestively wiggling her eyebrows. She turned in her seat, looking the dark haired stranger up and down, biting her lower lip before meeting the most amazing green eyes. “Baby, if you were a fruit, you’d be a fine-apple.”_

_her voice low and raspy now, giving her victim a confident nod._

 

_“Yeah no, sorry. The hills win” the green eyed woman laughed and turned her attention back to her book._

 

_Camila just shrugged, took a large sip of the new beer in front of her and made her way past the reading woman, to go to the restroom._

 

_The other girl watched her out the corner of her eye and man, talking about apples, that ass!_

 

_Camila had just dried her hands when she was suddenly pinned against the wall by the green eyed girl._

 

_“So… your pace or mine?”_

 

_–_

 

She looked down at the other girls lips before looking to the left. “Ahh, look what we found…” she dragged out bringing the other woman’s attention to the disheveled looking ‘bed’ next to them. 

 

The guest was looking down at a mattress.

 

_Thank god she’s cute because that thing looks like she ordered “frat house basement mattress” on post mates_ the woman thought, one eye brow raised. 

 

A set of soft lips and a wet tongue hitting hers snapped her out of her worries and before she knew it, she was laying on said mattress, the 5’2” woman straddling her hips not letting a second go to waste. At least the mattress didn’t smell they way it looked.

 

Before she knew it there were clothes shed and more kisses exchanged, now mostly coming from the smaller woman, mostly directed at the taller girl’s neck and chest. She was crazy but she sure knew what she was doing because with every nibble, every hard bite, every lick of her tongue, she could evoke a pleased moan from the stranger. 

 

Camila knew that she was quite good with her mouth on necks, but the unnamed girl was about to have a her world rocked as soon as Camilawould get “-these” _huff_ “-god“ _huff_ “-damned” _huff “_ panties” _HUFF “_ OFF!” Camila shouted the last word angrily and so loudly that the taller girl underneath her scooted up the mattress away from Camila’s suddenly clumsy hands. 

 

“Yo, can you chill?” she asked with an annoyed look at the smaller, now angry looking, girl. 

 

“Oh shut up and just take off your underwear” Camila answered with an arrogant and expectant cock of her head. 

 

“Yeah no that’s not happening if you’re all angry like that.”

 

“Oh give me a break okay? I’m drunk, just help a girl out here!”. She was getting annoyed and she hated when she made “mistakes” in bed. 

 

“I think I’ll just help my self. Out of this apartment that is.” The one night stand, that now seemed to actually not be one got up and shuffled through the endless amounts of clothes she just now noticed all over the floor. She thought for a second she found her pants but noticed that they can’t possibly be hers when she couldn’t pull them past her thighs. 

 

“Fuck,” she let out frustratedly “Can’t you clean up after yourself? You live like a teenage boy” she scolded the smaller girl that was still kneeling on the mattress, her big ego from before slowly deflating. When the stranger finally found all her clothes and put them on, Camila got up and walked to the apartment door and held it open expectantly. Her guest was just putting her shoes back on and just shook her head at the rude host. 

 

“Fuck you,” she muttered as she brushed past Camila, on hand holding her jacket, the other going through her hair ruffled hair. 

 

“Well, that didn’t really work out did it!” Camila spat back. 

 

She watched her not so conquered conquest walk down the rundown hallway towards the stairs, ignoring her comment. 

 

“AND YOUR ASS ISN’T OUT OF THIS WORLD. IT’SBORING AND STUPID. LIKE DELAWARE. OR IOWA!” Camila had to always get a punch in when she was embarrassed. It never really helped, though. 

 

She saw the other woman shoot her the middle finger before disappearing down the first flight of stairs. 

 

Camila was still staring at the spot where she just saw the last glimpse of, if she was honest with herself, the most amazing ass she had the pleasure of running her hands over in ages. 

 

Across the hall the door opened and a lady looking like an old dried up worm glared at Camila, 

who was standing in her door way just in her jeans and bra. 

 

“What? What! What’s all that yelling? You just can’t wait for me to die, can you!” the old lady yelled at her. 

 

Camila glared back at her. “By the looks of you, you’ve already died a long time ago, Mrs. Fish.”

She stomped back into her apartment and slammed the door shut behind her. She kind of hoped the loud slam would give the old bitch across the hallway the heart attack that finally kills her. 

She constantly complained when Camila brought girls home, more than once killing the mood before she could get the bimbo of the night into her apartment. 

 

She turned on the light and looked at Tom. 

 

“Why did you go to the police? Why didn't you come to me first?”

 

She pushed her jaw forward, mimicking Marlon Brando’s way of speaking in the The Godfather. 

It was one of her favorite movies. 

 

After a short pause she continued “What is that?” she walked around the room now, picking up dirty shirts and a couple of her countless hoodies, gathering them in her arms. Loose hairs and crumbs were falling to the ground and dust balls whirled up by the swift movement in which she picked up the clothes. She stopped and looked back at Tom. “That I cannot do” shaking her head. Another pause, clothes still in her arms. 

 

She continued: “We've known each other many years, but this is the first time you ever came to me for counsel or for help. I can't remember the last time that you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee, even though my wife is godmother to your only child. But let's be frank here. You never wanted my friendship. And, uh, you were afraid to be in my debt” and with that she let the bundle of dirty laundry fall to the floor, the dust balls form before now pushed into all directions by the waft as if they were trying to get away from the gross pile now back in it’s usual place. 

 

She walked over to the dummy, turning him back to it’s original position. Her arms crossed she looked at him. 

 

“I understand. You found paradise in America, you had a good trade, you made a good living. The police protected you and there were courts of law. You didn't need a friend like me. But, now you come to me, and you say: "Don Corleone, give me justice." But you don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder for money.”

 

She punched him once. 

 

“That is not justice.” 

 

_Punch_

 

“Your” _punch_ “daughter” _punch_ “is” _punch_ “still” _punch_ “ALIVE!”. She shouted the last word. 

 

Camila was breathing heavily, her shoulders rising and falling fast as she was trying to gather air in her lungs. 

 

“Knock it off!” she could hear her neighbours muffled voice through the wall. 

 

Camila stepped back from the angry looking dummy and took off her jeans and bra, looking around the floor for a shirt to wear. She found one that had a circular yellow seal printed on it, with a green palm tree in the middle. It had the words _“The City of Miami”_ in the upper part of the circle and _“Police”_ in the lower part of it. 

 

It smelled less musty than she thought it would so Camila threw it on, turned off the light and laid in bed that sadly didn’t smell like sex but… fucking Sandalwood? And Roses. And strawberry. Get a whiff of those sparkling top notes. Camila’s nose was always really sensitive. Which was ironic since… she shook her head trying not to think about it. It didn’t take her long to fall asleep. She was exhausted after the stressful day she had at work and and the exhausting evening that followed. 

 

She dreamt of eery, dark green, rain covered pine trees and… Delaware? 

 

-

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

 

_I don't care, I don't care, I don't care_

_I don't care, I don't care, care if it's old_

_I don't mind, I don't mind, I don't mind_

_I don't mind, mind, don't have a mind_

_Get away, get away, get away_

_Get away, away, away from your home_

_I'm afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid_

_I'm afraid, afraid, ghost_

 

 

Each punch was cathartic. 

 

_Even if you have, even if you need_

 

Knuckle to the nose.

 

_I don't mean to stare, we don't have to breed_

 

Fist to the abdomen. 

 

_We could plant a house, we could build a tree_

 

Punch to the chest. 

 

_I don't even care, we could have all three_

 

Kick to the head. 

 

Tom to really had to endure a lot this morning. Camila was angry this morning. 

She woke before her alarm clock and couldn’t fall back to sleep. Because she hated laying in bed awake with nothing to do, she got up, went to the bathroom, peed, washed her hands and splashed her face with cold water. She really was awake now. It was 6:30 am. She didn’t have to be at work until 9 and she knew it was going to be a desk day because she had yesterday’s case reports to write. She had made notes about everything important about yesterday’s arrest before she left the precinct but she knew she had to write a coherent report and finish it today. The captain wanted to pass it along because the arrest had been a huge deal. They were on the guy for months and it was one of Camila’s smoothest cases yet. Everything worked out the way she wanted it to and although her team was a set of really great cops and detectives, it was her quick thinking and good instincts that lead them to find a 2nd location with convicting clues to their suspect in form of finger prints, personal items and two guard goons that couldn’t keep their mouths shut. 

 

500 pounds of cocaine were peanuts compared to what was moved through Miami ports these days but it was still 6 Million $ that the drug cartels could now wave goodbye to. 

 

She usually went to celebrate with her colleagues at Jester’s, a pub where mostly cops hung out. 

It was named after the owner’s grandfather, Robert Lee Jester, who was shot and killed on the job in 1933. 

 

But that night she just wanted to relax alone with a beer, maybe fuck a girl or two and go to bed. 

 

So she opted for a beer at Churchill’s. It was also closer to her apartment in Liberty City. 

It was a bad neighbourhood, sure. But she spent most of her youth there before she applied to the police academy. It was home. And it had a dreariness that Camila could relate to. 

 

After she got a good morning workout in she went to hit the shower. 

 

A loud cough rang through the bathroom as she turned on her bluetooth speakers connected to her phone and she pressed play. 

 

_I'm bored of cheap and cheerful_

_I want expensive sadness_

_Hospital bills, parole_

_Open doors to madness_

 

Camila sang along as she turned on the water. The shower head started coughing up little sprays of water until the pressure built up finally giving her a pretty alright stream of water. And it’s hot, too! Maybe it’s going to be a good day after all. 

 

She was almost done getting ready. All she needed was some clean underwear. She opened the bag she uses to wash her clothes and the laundromat around the corner. It should still have… ah jackpot! Clean underwear was a must. Everything else she was more relaxed with. She ruffled through the pile she attempted to clean up yesterday. 

 

“That fucking bitch. ‘You live like a teenage boy’” she mocked the girl who stormed out of her apartment just a few hours before. “AH!” she retrieved a dark green crew neck t-shirt and held it in the air triumphantly. 

It smelled okay, no staines, no holes. Awesome! She put it on and went on her next mission. Pants. 

Looking around she spotted some dark skinny jeans on the kitchen counter. They had some socks stuck in the ends still, which was super convenient. She put on her regular accessories. A cheap, black Casio watch. 

Her detective batch, which she would wear under her shirt as long as she’s not at the precinct. The Azabache Bracelet, which she got from her grandmother. She had extra links added to it when she found it a box a couple of years ago and although Camila was always a logical thinker, she never felt 100% safe when she didn’t wear it. Some classic Wayfarers to finish it all off and she was done.

 

She put on a light, black baseball jacket and checked if she had her car keys and wallet. Ah and of course… she ruffled through a different jacket when her fingers found what she was looking for. She held it up, flicked it, and put it in her pocket. 

 

“Ah fuck” she hit the palm of her hand to her forehead. Checking the time she saw that it was just 8:00 am which gave her plenty of time for breakfast and her way to work, with the potential to get stuck in traffic. 

She walked over to the freezer and took out a ham & cheese hot pocket. She loved the ones with the buttery crust the most. She popped it in the microwave, leaned back on the counter looking around her room. 

Maybe she’ll use this upcoming weekend to clean up. It was getting out of hand. The girls she picked up from bars didn’t seem to mind, well most of them notice and quite a few have voiced concern, sympathy or disgust but Camila usually shuts them up as soon as her hand finds its way between the girl’s thighs. 

 

As she glanced around the room she noticed a something white and shiny on the floor, close to the door. 

The ding from the microwave distracted her for a few seconds though and she took the scalding hot pocket out. “911 what’s you emergency” she laughed to herself. She loved that vine. She walked over to the piece of plastic and picked it up. 

 

She smirked at the Florida drivers licence. “Come on, Lauren. I said no names” she quietly laughs to herself. 

Damn that girl looked good in her picture. And that says a lot about how beautiful she was. Nobody ever looks good in those. Camila herself looked like a 12 year old after a 5 year meth bender on hers.

 

She looked at the address on the licence. “Wynwood, huh? Go figure, little hispter you.” The other girl mentioned something about a job yesterday. Camila didn’t pay attention to anything but that girl’s ass in her hands in that moment, but she figured that Lauren would be working. She’d just pop it in her mailbox on her way back from work. It wasn’t far out of her way. 

 

Putting the licence in her wallet, as not to lose it, she made her way to her car. Her beat up 1993 Jeep Cherokee was parked right outside the apartment. She got it. The car looked like hell, but the sound system she had put in overshadowed the rips in the seats, the dirty windows and crooked rear view mirror. 

 

Hey, it drove, okay? 

 

–

 

When Camila finished her report at 6 pm, she was ready to greet her well deserved long weekend. Since she basically worked double shifts every day for the past 3 weeks because of the big case, she was given the weekend as well as Monday and Tuesday off. Captain liked his people to recover properly after assignments like that asked everything of them. 

 

She was about to leave when she remembered the driver’s licence, safely stored away in her wallet. 

 

She took it out and caught herself starring at the woman in the picture. Even with the crappy quality of those printers, she could make out those intense green eyes. 

 

“You look way better in that picture. And you changed your name? You goin’ undercover again?” Dinah laughed from behind her partner. 

 

“Jesus fucking christ, Dinah. You scarred the shit out of me.” 

 

“Ew gross you better clean that up!” she laughed even harder now. 

 

“Ha. Ha. Very funny” Camila scoffed. 

 

“So not undercover then, huh? That ID would feel no one. That girl’s a hard 9 1/2 while you’re like… oh remember when that dead mouse in a pack of Takis under your couch? You’re like that” she grinned at her partner. 

 

“Thanks, Dinah. You know how charm a woman.”

 

“Bah, just making sure to keep you grounded, Superstar.” she winked at her and continued “So tell me, why are you staring at some hipster chick from Wynwood?”

 

“She left it at my apartment. Thought I’d run her name through the system to see if I have another reason to cuff her to the bed again.” Camila smirked at the taller girl. She knew she didn’t have to lie to Dinah, but if she told her the truth about what happened last night, she’d never hear the end of it.

 

“No way you cuffed her to your bed. You don’t have a bed frame to cuff her to, you loser.”

 

“It was a joke, Dinah. But I should have cuffed her anyway. She couldn’t keep her hands off me. It was almost annoying.” 

 

“We get it, Walz. You’re hot, and you get laid. Don’t let it go to your head tho, you’re still low key gross as fuck” she scrunched up her nose and pulled off an old band aid off the back of Camila’s t-shirt and flicked it at the smaller girls face. 

 

“GROSS DINAH!”

 

“IT WAS STUCK ON YOUR SHIRT, CHRISTINA NASTY ASS APARTMENT YANG!”

 

Both of them had to laughed hard, until another detective shushed them, because he was on the phone. 

 

They both ducked their heads and calmed down enough for Camila to remember why she even took the ID out. She entered Lauren’s full name into the system. 

 

“Jesus Christ, that girl gets enough parking tickets to wallpaper Panorama Tower twice” Dinah said with wide eyes. 

 

“Huh, she was arrested at a couple of protests, but never charged.” Camila was hoping for a hot mug shot but apart from a shit load of parking tickets (paid, but still, how can you get 4 parking tickets in one day?!) and the regular woke college student antics the girl was clean. 

 

“Boring.” Dinah turned around to go back to her desk. “Any plans for your mini vacation, Walz?”

 

“Nah, gonna sleep. Maybe do laundry. Clean up a bit.”

 

“Ah so a regular weekend where you do NOTHING of the mentioned things.”

“Hey!” 

 

“Face it, Walz. You’re gonna be either wasted or hungover for the next 4 days and the only thing you’re going to do is some 20 year old questioning college student who will let you fuck her in the back of that disgusting monster you call a car.”

 

“Love you too, Dinah.” They both chuckled lightly and called it a day, packing in their things. 

 

–

 

The drive to Wynwood takes longer than expected. There was a pretty bad accident on the high way 

and now Camila was stuck. It was May and already way too hot. 

 

_Ay, no hay que llorar, que la vida es un carnaval_

_Es más bello vivir cantando_

_Oh, oh, oh, ay, no hay que llorar_

_Que la vida es un carnaval_

_Y las penas se van cantando_

 

Was blaring through the car speakers. Her grandmother had been a huge Celia Cruz fan and Camila remembered them dancing in the kitchen, her grandmother moving around easily despite her old age. 

 

Camila fidgeted with her bracelet and looked at her watch. 7:30 pm already. She hoped the other girl hadn’t already left her home to go out. It was Friday and it was Miami. The city was buzzing and lively, especially in the cool districts like the Wynwood or Little Havana. Anyone staying home was crazy and or incredibly lonely. Camila usually was both. 

 

After traffic slowly dissolved, it only took her another 10 minutes to arrive at her destination. She found herself outside a cute yellow house on NW 34th St right by Roberto Clemente Park. 

She didn’t expect something so regular from the other girl. She thought she’d find herself outside a cool converted brick building, with like, lofts and shit. This looked like her grandmother’s house. 

The front yard was littered with large plants and flowers. It looked beautiful, Camila admitted to herself. 

 

Shit, why was she getting nervous all of a sudden? Looking around the street, she checked if there was anyone around. Seeing only a group of kids far off at the street corner, fixing the chain on their bikes, Camila

took out the little zip lock packet she still had in her front pocket. Turning her phone around in her hand, she emptied some of the white powder on the shiny surface. Looking around for something to cut it up the only thing convenient was Lauren’s licence sitting in one of the cup holders. 

 

She shrugged and used it to press down on the white powder, forming a line, pressing it down again, and forming a line again. When it seemed fine enough she took looked around for something to snort it with. 

She spotted an empty ICEE slushy in the foot room of the passenger seat. She pulled out the red straw, with one hand, while balancing her phone in the other. She bit a piece of the straw with her canine tooth and managed to rip it into a shorter piece. Macgyvered the shit out of that!

 

She held the short plastic piece to her nostril with her thumb and middle finger, using her index finger to hold close the other nostril. 

 

_SNIFF_

 

Cleaned that shit right up. Can’t let anything go to waste. 

Camila shook her head and rubbed the wings on her nose, sniffing a couple of times to get rid of the tickling sensation in her nose. Wiping any possible access off her phone and the driver’s licence on the passenger seat, Camila pocketed the iPhone and got out of the car. 

 

She walked to the other side of the street, checking the address on the licence again. Yep, this must be it. 

 

She walked through the thick of palms covering the sides of the short walk way to the door. 

 

Gardenias were blooming all around, Lauren seemed to like them. 

She breathed in deeply a couple of times before ringing the door bell. It didn’t ring. 

She tried again, pressing it a little harder and longer this time. Still nothing. 

She knocked loudly. Three times. Still nothing. 

 

“Huh, must not be home” Camila huffed looking to her left and right, hoping for a sign of life and/or a mailbox.

She didn’t see one from the street. She was about to turn around and leave when she heard a husky voice singing along to a Julio Iglesias song. It was Quiereme Mucho. She knew that song by heart. Her grandmother loved Julio Iglesias. She would tell Camila “Mija, this is the kind of man I see you marrying. Handsome, yes? And talented. And romantic!”. When Camila confessed to her that she was gay, a few months later, she shrugged and simply said: “Ay, then maybe you marry a young Guadalupe Pineda, eh?”. When she was high, memories like that seemed 10 times more vivid. She sighed before remembering why she was here. 

 

She walked around to the side of the house and came to a halt in front of what must be the kitchen window. 

Looking inside she could see a cozy open kitchen, overlooking a comfortable and homey looking living room. 

The place was small, a two or three person house hold at most. She got closer to the window to get a better look and maybe find out, where the beautifully raspy voice was coming from. 

 

_Cuando se quiere de veras_

_Como te quiero yo a ti_

 

Camila had to smile a little bit, hearing the raspy voice piping up at those lines. 

 

When Lauren walked into the kitchen and caught Camila standing outside her window she screamed. 

 

Camila’s eyes got big, panicking a little.

 

_Shit fuck what oh shit she saw me wait no that’s good because I have to give her the licence fuck god why is she not wearing a shirt fuck don’t look at her boobs shit you looked at her boobs okay look at her eyes ah better yes woooow her eyes are so green_

 

Camila just starred at Lauren’s eyes now. Lauren on the other hand was glaring at the girl, who was basically a stranger, outside her kitchen window. What neither of them noticed the vase that hit the floor, smashed into a million pieces. 

 

Lauren was holding it just a second ago, where did it go?

 

She snapped out of it and took a step toward the sink under the kitchen window as to challenge Camila to explain why the fuck she was standing outside her house like a fucking creep. 

 

She was stopped by a sharp pain hitting her foot. She had stepped right into a shard of glass. 

 

“JESU- FUCK- Yo cago en la leche de tu puta madre! Cojeme!” she cursed like a sailor. 

 

Camila darted forward, her hands now on the window frame, stood on her tiptoes looking at what Lauren was cursing at. A small pool of blood had formed underneath the green eyed’s foot. 

 

Camila hoisted her self up and clumsily climbed through the window, almost falling off the sink into the glass and blood on the floor. Why was she so clumsy all of a sudden?

 

Her sneakers hit the ground though and she managed to steady herself. 

 

“WHAT THE FUCK” Lauren curseed at her. 

 

“You cut your foot” Camila notices, pointing down at blood. 

 

“Oh, no shit! I HADN’T NOTICED. Thanks for your help, now get. the. fuck. out. of. MY HOUSE” Lauren shouted at her. Camila stepped forward and swooped Lauren into her arms like it was nothing. 

 

“What- what the-“ Lauren was cut off by two brown eyes looking at her intensely. The brown was barely visible though, because Camila’s pupils were so large it almost looked like she had those creepy contact lenses in her eyes, that you could buy at Party City. 

 

_Is she high?_

 

When Camila noticed that the other girl wasn’t protesting anymore she carried her over to the couch in the living room. She sat Lauren down gently, taking her leg with the injured foot, placing it on her lap, laying a kitchen towel she had flung over her shoulder before lifting Lauren up, underneath as to not get blood on the couch. She looked back over to the kitchen and noticed the drips of blood all the way from the sea of glass over to the couch. 

 

“Sorry ‘bout that” she muttered before turning her attention back to the injured foot on her lap.

 

Lauren watched her, the pain in her foot seemingly gone. 

 

“Do you have a first aid kit?” now turning her attention back to Lauren’s face. The green eyes unreadable. 

 

It took a few seconds for Lauren to react. 

 

“Uhm… yeah I- I think there’s one… under the bathroom sink…” vaguely motioning to the door next to kitchen. 

 

Camila lifted the girl’s leg to slip out from underneath it and placed it on one of the high couch pillows. 

 

“Keep it propped up, and uh-“ motioning to the pillow “say goodbye to the pillow cover” looking at the blood still flowing down the length of Lauren’s foot. It wasn’t bleeding as badly as it had a minute ago, the cut didn’t seem to be too deep. 

 

She shuffled over to the bathroom and went to look for the first aid kit. The bathroom was decorated with all kinds of maritime themed knickknacks. Some sea shells and interesting looking rocks lined the side of the bathtub that had a plant hanging from the shower head. Little rubber sea horses were stuck to the wall, a colorful fishing net covered part of the ceiling and a plant was weaving it’s leaves through it. And there were a lot of candles. It was very clean. 

 

Trying to focus back on the task at hand, Camila finally manage to find the first aid kid. 

 

She patted back into the living room to find Lauren patiently bleeding on the pillow cover she bought only last week. 

 

Camila assumed her previous position and took a closer look at the cut. 

 

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Lauren asked carefully. 

 

“Yep” Camila confirmed, taking the tweezers she found in the bathroom. 

 

She looked over to Lauren “This might hurt a little bit, but it wont last long” and then turned her attention 

to the cut once and for all. She couldn’t look at Lauren for longer than a few seconds. She was nervous enough, her blood pumping like crazy. From the cocaine. Right? Yeah, must be the coke. It was high quality shit after all. 

 

Lauren tried to see what Camila was doing but couldn’t really see. Then a sharp pain shot through her foot. 

She tried to jerk it away from the smaller girl but Camila had a firm grip on Lauren’s ankle. She was incredibly strong, the injured girl acknowledged for the 2nd time today. 

 

“Sorry” Camila muttered apologetically. “I just need to clean it out, make sure there’s no glass in there.”

 

She started to carefully pull little pieces of glass out of the cut that now clearly wasn’t deep enough to warrant a hospital visit, but must still hurt like a motherfucker. 

 

She had a hard time holding her hand steady, her right trying to carefully grab the almost invisible pieces of glass. Her left tapping unsteady rhythms on Lauren’s ankle. 

 

_She’s fucking high_. Lauren could see it now, but didn’t say anything. 

 

“Okay, so I’m gonna flush this out, it might burn a bit.” Camila took the saline and squirted some onto the cut. 

Lauren hissed but kept her foot steady. Camila looked around for something to wipe up the excess blood and saline. Lauren turned around slightly and took a pack of tissues and handed it to Camila. 

 

“Ah” she took it continuing “perfect, yes great.” She dried the sole of Lauren’s foot and started to dress the wound. Although her hands were still a bit unsteady, Camila was meticulous and gentle. 

 

“Are you nurse or something?” Lauren asked curiously. 

 

“No” Camila simply answered, shaking her head a little bit faster than necessary.

 

“Where did you learn to take care of wounds then?” 

 

“First aid training.”

 

“Cool.”

 

“Mhm” Camila agreed humming. 

 

She secured the gauze and put the left over supplies back into the first aid kit. 

 

She stared at Lauren’s foot and nodded. A masterpiece. The gauze and everything. Not Lauren’s foot. Although she had nice looking feet. Camila usually hated feet. Touching them was the worst. But she didn’t seem to have a problem to touch Lauren’s. 

 

_How high am I?!_

 

She smiled over to Lauren. “You’re all good. Please try not to walk around too much the next few days. Tomorrow you can put on a new pad and gauze. You can just look up a video on youtube if you don’t know how to do it, but it’s pretty simple. I’m sure uh yeah you’ll manage you seem smart you know since you read and stuff and you have a job, right? I remember you mentioning it. So yeah just keep an eye on it and just keep it elevated for now maybe on a pillow or something I’m sure you can figure it out and uhm…” she fidgeted with her fingers ”…yeah you should get a new first aid kid because that one is almost empty and you should always have a fully stocked one at home you know.”

 

Lauren cocked her head to the side. 

 

_Man, she’s nervous. What is she on?_

 

Camila looked at her hands now, not knowing where the word vomit was coming from. Normally she’s just really confident and cool when she’s on coke. But somehow she feels… insecure?

 

She looks back up and her eyes land on the pool of blood still sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor. 

 

“I’ll clean that up” she says without looking at the injured girl next to her and replaced the support of her thighs with another big pillow, giving Lauren’s foot the ordered elevated position. 

 

She shuffled over to the kitchen and before Lauren can react Camila is wiping up the blood with some wet kitchen towels. She did it in such a careful manner that Lauren wasn’t surprised that the smaller girl didn’t cut herself, despite her shaking hands. When Camila was done wiping up the blood in the kitchen and the droplets leading over to the couch she stood in the middle of the small living room looking around like she was lost. 

 

“You okay?” Lauren asked, a questioning eyebrow raised. 

 

“Yeah no yes I mean, I’m okay I just need a…” she made a back and forth motion with her hand like she’s pushing and pulling something. 

 

“A broom?”

 

“Yeah no yes but one that goes WWOOOSSHHHHH” she flapped her arms like a bird for some reason. 

 

“A vacuum cleaner?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“See the door next to the front door?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“It’s in there.”

 

–

 

“So… thanks for cleaning up. I guess I would have had trouble doing that since I am you know…” Lauren gestured at her still elevated foot.

 

“No problem it’s all cool no problem at all!” Camila smiled wildly. The euphoria of the cocaine hitting her. 

 

An awkward silence ensued. 

 

“So…” Lauren started.

 

“So…” Camila returned. 

 

“What are were doing in front of my kitchen window, …?” trying to remember the smaller girl’s but then realising that she still didn’t know it. 

 

“Camila.”

 

“Camila. Okay. What were you doing in front of my kitchen window, Camila?”

 

“I- uh…” Camila tapped her chin with her finger, trying to remember. 

 

“AH!” she exclaimed excitedly, pulling Lauren’s drivers licence out of her front pocket and walking over to the couch, handing it to Lauren.

 

“Oh! Awesome, thanks!” Lauren held the little piece of plastic to her chest, glad she didn’t have to spend the rest of her life waiting in line of the DMV. 

 

Camila smiled at her proudly. Mission accomplished. 

 

_God job, detective!_ she thought to her self, giggling. 

 

“You could have also just put it in my mailbox.”

 

“I couldn’t find it.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So…”

 

“So…”

 

“Listen, are you high?”

 

“What?!” Camila looked at her, an exaggerated expression on her face. 

 

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck_

 

“No, I’m uh just… like this.”

 

“O…kay…” Lauren draws out, not knowing if she should believe the dark eyed girl. 

 

“So, ehm… I guess I should get going.”

 

“I guess.” 

 

“Hey Lauren?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Camila flicked a coin in Lauren’s direction who caught it with ease. 

 

Turning the silver piece in her hand she turned her head to Camila questioningly.

 

“It’s money. That’s a quarter. It can be exchanged for goods and services. For example, when you park your electrical carriage aka your car, you put it into the slot on top of those little bald grey metal men, and then you won’t get FOUR FUCKING PARKING TICKETS IN ONE DAY” Camila shouted laughingly. 

 

Lauren glared at her, not believing what Camila just said to her. How did she know that? 

 

“What the fuck? How do you know about that, you asshole!”

 

Camila was still laughing.

 

“I was hoping for a cute little mugshot, I bet you look super hot in an orange jump suit. But I’ll just take a mental picture of your face right now, because it’s pure gold, girl.” She winks at Lauren before throwing her head back to let out a loud laugh. 

 

“Are you some kind of stalker?!” Lauren was getting irritated. 

 

“Hahah, no, not quite.” 

 

“Well whatever you are, get the fuck out of my apartment, you fucking crazy bitch.”

 

That stopped Camila’s laugh in an instant. She let her head fall to the side, looking at Lauren with a daring look before pulling out her detective’s badge out of her shirt. 

 

“I’m a cop. And you” pointing at Lauren “are under arrest for insulting a police officer.”

 

–

 

Lauren had her arms crossed in front of her chest, looking like a sulky little child. 

 

“You. Should. Have. Seen. Your. Face.” Camila couldn’t stop laughing. 

 

Lauren had become a rambling mess following Camila’s confession and was stumbling over her words, trying to get out of her impending arrest. Camila had let her squirm for a couple of minutes, citing fake regulations and laws, mentioning possible fines and even jail time.

 

For a moment she thought Lauren would start crying any second. But then she couldn’t keep a straight face anymore and let Lauren in on the joke. 

 

The green eyed girl really was pissed now. 

 

“So, Lauren. I had fun hanging out.” Her confidence going through the roof after the little display of power and she now looked over the other girl, who was still only in shorts and a bikini top. Man, she had a killer rack. 

 

Lauren felt the other girl’s eyes on her. 

 

“Yeah, ha-ha. I’m glad you had fun. Can you get the fuck out of my apartment now? I didn’t ask for you to be here!”

 

“Aww, well who would have taken care of your cut?” Camila mockingly pouted at Lauren.

 

“I WOULDN’T HAVE A CUT IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU, CAMILA!” Lauren shouted. She was so fucking angry. 

 

“Damn, you screaming my name really does sound nice” Camila wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. 

 

The angry green eyes looking back to her now burning a whole through her skull. 

 

Camila felt herself get lost in them again, feeling exposed. Her confidence was leaving as fast as it came. 

 

When she snapped out of it she winked at Lauren and turned to finally leave her alone. 

 

“Finally” Lauren hissed under her breath. 

 

“See ya around, Delaware.”

 

“LAUREN!”

 

“Damn” Camila opens the front door before shooting Lauren one last look over her shoulder “it’s even hot when you scream you own name.” 

 

A last bold wink and she’s out the door. 

 

As soon as the door falls shut behind her Camila starts breathing heavily as a wave of panic washes over her. Shit.

 

_What’s wrong with you? Get your shit together._

 

– 


	3. Chapter 3

When Camila got home that Friday evening, she felt like dying. Her high was weird somehow. 

It was all over the place. Camila didn’t have control and she hated the feeling.  
  
She kicked her shoes off, grabbed a banana from the counter and bit into it. Looking around for something to do she noticed something on her thighs. Dried blood.   
  
“Great…” she scoffed. Instantly reminded of the nervous, mumbling wreck she was just an hour ago. And then instantly reminded of how much of a dick she was a few minutes after that.   
  
Ugh she hated when people made her feel something. Like, when people made her care, you know? It gave her goosebumps. Because there was no space to care. She had only ever cared about her grandmother, because her grandmother cared about her. And okay, Dinah.   
  
Because Dinah was her partner in crime, or better: her partner in crime fighting. And she would have been kicked out of the force a long time ago if it wasn’t for the significantly taller girl holding her back before she could fight a fellow cadet, or detective, or the captain, or some bad guy in the interrogation room, or some bad guy in court, or some sleaze ball hitting on unwilling girls at Churchill’s, or the hot dog vendor because he put relish on her hot dog, or just anybody really if Camila was in the mood. Her potential to get into a fight was always quite high.   
  
The cocaine certainly didn’t help. 

 

In the middle of rummaging through huge pile of black jeans in the corner of the room, she got interrupted by Dinah calling. 

 

“WALZ!”

 

“What’s up, Dinah.”

 

“Listen, Captain spoke to me before I left work. There’s some youth thing going on on Wednesday.

They want someone from the police to hang out with some kids, answer questions about the job, etc.”

 

Yes, almost clean pants! Camila held the dusty pair of black skinny jeans to her chest. 

 

“And you’re telling me this because…?” Camila drew out. 

 

“You have to do it?”

 

Camila laughed out loud. “Sure, Dinah. Okay, nice try. I like your pranks, but this one is really one of your better ones.”

 

“Mila, I’m serious. They don’t want to send any of the rookies because you know how that ended the last time. Dove still panics when we bring it up. And the senior guys all pulling the “I’ve been here 35 years, you can’t ask me to do that” and everyone else is on cases. You’re the only one without a case right now and you’re young and relatable.”

 

“Dinah, I made 4 of your siblings cry without even talking to them, looking at them or touching them.”

 

“Yeah but they were small, you know?”

 

“They were in high school, Dinah.”

  
  
  


“Listen, it’s not like you have a choice. Community out reach is important to the Captain. People don’t really like the police right now, and rightfully so! You’ve been lucky that you had to do so little. 

I do this shit in my free time. So you can step up and represent the force in a positive manner.   
And I mean positive, Camila. They’re kids. Don’t tell them how to choke someone out or how to turn a bubble gum wrapper, a lighter and a quarter into a deadly weapon. This is Paw Patrol, not Training Day.”

 

“Ugh okay fine! Just send me a text with the info.” Camila was pissed. She hated community out reach. Partly, because she never knew what to say. She hated the whole ‘friendly neighbourhood cop’ thing.   
  
And it sometimes would turn uncomfortable. Sometimes she’d be at some event, handing out stickers to kids of people from back then, who then come up to her. Known gang members, criminals, greeting her almost like family. 

 

Whispering thank yous and giving approving nods because she had conveniently overlooked a pack of cocaine here and there, sometimes an unregistered hand gun under a mattress or wads of cash, hidden away in shoes boxes. 

 

Camila helped them out, they helped Camila out. It used to be in form of her always being safe in school, her grandmother’s house never been shot up and some sort of family structure. They let her belong, be part of something. Now it’s cocaine and hints about rival drug pushers. And for that, Camila could turn a blind eye once or twice. 

 

Camila tried not to think about the fact that she was a dirty cop. She took care of the big fish. It had to make up for her not busting every kid she saw smoking weed on the street corner. Right?

 

–

 

An hour later Camila found herself showered, two lines strong and quite drunk at Churchill’s.

Dinah had sent her the following text

 

**[09:23 pm] Dinah:**

 

**Wednesday 9:00 AM SHAPR at the youth at 4920 NW & 12th Ave. **

**Ask for this girl Lara. She’s a social worker there. And remember:**

**"These paws uphold the laws!” WUFF WUFF**

 

–

 

When Wednesday rolled around, Camila knew she had forgotten something. She couldn’t quite

pin point what it was. 

 

She tried to remember several times over the weekend. But her mind during a 4 day bender isn’t at its best. 

 

She couldn’t remember when she was having each hand down in a different set of pants on Friday, in one of the bathroom stalls at Churchill’s. She thought she was seeing double for a moment, but then she realised they were twins. 

 

She thought she’d remember on Saturday afternoon when Taylor stopped by after her cheerleading practice. (She was in college, chill out) 

She did names with Taylor, because Taylor always brought delicious food. 

 

Camila called Taylor… well Taylor. 

 

And Taylor called Camila Daddy. 

 

That’s when she almost remember but quickly forgot when Taylor fed her Pad Thai while lounging around naked and spaced out. Maybe it was the Ketamine, too. It made her super hazy. 

 

Saturday night was a blur. Camila remembered punching someone. Someone tall. Someone who definitely deserved it tho. She thinks. And Saturday night it was twins again. Other ones tho. Camila had taken them back to her place with the promise of a shit ton of great weed and a couple of drinks. The twins made out with each other in an attempt to turn Camila on.

 

She wasn’t sure if it was gross or hot but didn’t really care anymore when both girls were on their hands and knees, getting fingered from behind. 

 

Sunday morning was a bit weird because the twins were gone, but there was another girl. 

She had let Camila snort coke of her tits which was was like, one of Camila’s favorite places to snort cocaine from. She slept for the rest of the day. 

 

Monday and Tuesday were similar. Although Camila managed to get a workout in on Monday and hand washed a couple of shirts and socks in the bathtub. She couldn’t remember the reason for doing that though. It would probably come to her sooner or later. 

 

Tuesday night she went out to a small rundown strip club that she liked to go to sometimes. 

It was cheap and the girls enjoyed her company, because she always made them feel wanted but not like she owned them. This girl Normani, that Camila knew from high school convinced her to take some speed and her and the girls had spent the hours after the club closed dancing and joking and making out until the early hours of the next day. 

 

–

 

 

 

**[09:20 am] Dinah:**

 

**Hola, Walz! Made any kids cry yet?**

**Text me when you have a break and let me know how it’s going.**

 

 

 

 

The vibration and loud ding in her back pocket made Camila jolt up. Panicking she turned her head to the left and right, trying to figure out where the fuck she was. She was greeted with the biggest headache she had in ages. Thank God she didn’t feel nauseous. Yet.

 

She was laying outside of her apartment door. She hadn’t managed to unlock her door and just feel asleep, slumped against it. 

 

“Yah know, one day someone will just grab you, throw you into their car, kill ya and burry you out in the desert or drown you in the harbour.” Mrs. Fish spat from across the hall. 

 

“If by desert you mean your old, dried up cunt, Mrs. Fish, then I’ll take being drowned in the harbour any day of the week.” Camila smirked back. 

 

The old woman made wide eyes at Camila but didn’t know what to say and so she slammed closed her apartment door. 

 

Camila now turned her attention back to her phone. 

She read the text. And then she read it again. And a third time. 

 

_fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck_ Camila thought. She scrambling up to her feet, she let herself into the apartment, took her clothes off and jumped under the shower. She went to turn the water on when… nothing. God damn it, not today. 

 

She jumped back out of the shower, grabbed some old spice deodorant and sprayed her body with it. She definitely overdid it because it sent her into a coughing fit. She gargled some mouth wash and brushed her teeth with the residue. Better than nothing. 

 

She searched the floor for some jeans, found a pair and grabbed one of the T-Shirts she thankfully washed and put it all on. The clean underwear and the clean T-Shirt made her feel a little less shitty and she grabbed a hoodie that had MPD (Miami Police Department) on the front in large letters and a Miami Heat College Jacket. It looked quite overcast and cold outside. 

She put on a cap so she didn’t have to spend too much time on her hair. A pair of sunglasses to hide the insanely dark rings under her eyes and Camila was ready to go. 

 

Jogging toward her car she smashed the address Dinah hat sent her into google maps and took off. 

 

–


	4. Chapter 4

–

 

“Okay guys, our guest is running a little bit late. But that’s okay! I want you to give me a list of things that you want do this summer. We have three months, so we should be able to fit in a lot of things. So shoot!”

 

“Play Football!”

 

“Okay, good idea , Jeremy. What else?”

 

“Swimming!” a very short blonde boy shouted excitedly. 

 

“Yes, swimming we’ll do loads of. You’ll be like Michael Phelps at the end of the summer.”

 

“Can we draw?”

 

“Of course, Pablo, we can draw and do arts and crafts.”

 

“Can we go to the fire station?” at that question the other 19 kids cheered. 

 

“You guys really liked that day, huh? Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Maybe we can go to different fire stations.”

 

“YEEEAAHHH” they collectively shouted.

 

“Okay, thank you guys so much for your help. You have great ideas. Draw your numbers and get into your table groups. I want you all to tell the other people in your group, what your plans are this summer. Apart from your time here.”

 

–

 

Camila’s Jeep came to a screeching halt in front of a small community center next to Charles Hadley Park. She looked at herself in the rear view mirror before she went to face the music. 

She looked like hell, but still somehow hot? She had the whole disheveled laid back thing down well. She looked her car and hurried her way into the building. 

 

A nice looking older lady was walking through the hallway with a stack of files and Camila

hurriedly addressed her. 

 

“Hi, sorry. I’m Detective Cabello, I’m here to for the uhm… the kids?” that sounded so weird and Camila took out her phone shaking her head. “Uhm… I’m a bit late but I was told to ask for Lara?”

 

The old lady didn’t catch Camila’s awkwardness and just smiled at her with a beaming grin. 

 

“Oh, yes. We’re so glad you could make it! Thank you so much for doing this. Don’t worry about being late. We just usually do something else in the mean time. The kids are here until 4 in the afternoon anyway today. You’ll want to find room 727. It’s just around the corner to your left. You’re going to talk to our littlest ones today. Ages 5 to 9. If you have any questions just ask Lauren, she leads the summer camp of the group and she can help you out. Have fun!”

 

Camila nodded with a smile before hurrying to in the direction the older lady had pointed her to. 

 

Before she turned the corner she turned around and said “Wait, I though I was supposed to talk to Lara!” but the old Lady was already gone. Camila huffed and went back to the task at hand: Room 727. 

 

When she found the hand written sign sticking to the brown door she burst inside. 

20 sets of tiny eyes looked at her in awe. A stranger! How exciting. 

 

She couldn’t see an adult in the room so she just said “Ehm… I’m looking for Lara?”

 

“That’s me!” an excited black girl with a bow in her pony tail exclaimed, waving at Camila and grinning wildly. 

 

Was she still high? 

 

“Ehm… not I think a different Lara. She’s like… your teacher or some shit?”

 

“OHHHH YOU SAID A BAD WORD!”

 

“My mom says you shouldn’t curse!” 

 

“You’re gonna get in trooouuuubblleee”

 

Camila nervously waved her hands at the children. 

 

“No no no, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it. Please, don’t repeat that!” She was off to a great start. Not. 

 

“You know I’d rather have you not curse in front of the kids.” a low and raspy voice made Camila turn around. 

 

Camila’s eyes looked surprised and shocked and confused at the same time. 

 

The familiar green eyes looking back at her were… unreadable. 

 

“And you’re late, Detective… uh…” 

 

“Cabello.”

 

“Detective Cabello, right.” 

 

Lauren walked to the front of the room, Camila hesitatingly walked bind her. 

 

She addressed the 40 eyes now patiently looking at her.

 

“Kids, this is Detective Camila Cabello. She works for the police.”

 

Some eyes got wide and a few kids mumbled random ‘wow’s and ‘coooool’s and ‘do you have a gun?’.

 

Camila who had taken her hat, glasses and jacket off and laid them on a char behind her. 

 

She waved at the kids shyly. 

 

Lauren looked over to her, expression still unreadable.

 

“Detective Cabello will answer anything you want to know about what it’s like to work as a police officer. So what I want you to do is write down or draw down questions your have her. Older kids, help the younger ones. On your tables there are few suggestions that will help you come up with questions. And remember, to be-“ she was cut off by a choir of tiny voices. 

 

“Respectful and nice!” the all looked at her proudly. And that’s when Camila could make out some emotion in Lauren’s look. It was kindness and care and pride. 

 

Camila snapped her head back to look at the 4 round tables in the room. The children were sitting in groups of 5, writing and drawing excitedly on the papers in front of them. 

 

“Do you want some coffee?”

 

Camila turned her head to look at Lauren. The kindness and care now nowhere to be found. 

 

“Ehm… sure. Yes thanks.” Camila was even more nervous now. 

 

Lauren led her to a small open kitchen attached to the room and filled two cups with some coffee. 

 

“Milk, sugar?”

 

“Sugar please. 3.”

 

“3 sugars? No wonder you’re so skittish all the time.” 

 

Camila let out a small laugh. 

 

“Don’t laugh.” Lauren was now glaring a her, only a few inches away from her face. 

 

“Are you high? And don’t lie to me.”

 

“No I swear, I’m not. I was but I’m just hungover I swear.” Camila was nervously playing with the hem of her sweatshirt. Lauren looked her over. 

 

“Okay. I believe you. But I’m going to break it down for you. You look like shit. You don’t look prepared and I don’t know whose idea it was to send _you_ but trust me, I ain’t happy about it. Especially because it took me forever to to find a precinct that would send me someone on a Wednesday. These kids need role models. _Positive_ role models. They come from shitty neighbourhoods, shitty situations and what they don’t need is someone not giving 100% of their attention and care. They deserve to be taken seriously like any other person and you coming here, smelling like you drowned in old spice and looking like you took a road trip to Las Vegas with Johnny Depp is neither respectful nor nice.” Lauren was really in Camila’s face now. 

 

The smaller girl swallowed hard. No one has talked to her like that in… years.

She felt small. But Lauren had every right to be mad at her. She was unprepared, late and looked like hell. 

 

“I’m sorry. You’re right. With- with everything. I know where they’re coming from and I think if I saw myself at their age I wouldn’t want to learn anything about the police…” she said remorseful.

 

Did Camila just apologize? Did she just voice a genuine apology? Thank God Dinah wasn’t here to witness this because she’d never let Camila hear the end of it. 

 

Lauren’s look softened. 

 

“Listen, I’m not trying to make you feel bad, alright? Just, organizing this stuff is hard. We’re extremely underfunded and there are so many things I can’t do with them because there’s no money, there aren’t enough social workers or volunteers, and so when things don’t go as planned I just get frustrated” Lauren sighed defeated.

 

Now all the Camila could see in those deep green eyes was sadness and defeat.

Not wanting to see the other brunette upset gave Camila a surge of confidence. 

 

“Okay, how about this. We do an hour of questions and to make it up to the kids and _you_ I’ll organize an extra day. They can come to the precinct and sit in a police car and stuff.”

 

Lauren eyes lit up at that.

 

“You’d do that? You can do that? Because I tried to do that but I wasn’t getting anywhere.”

 

Camila’s chest got big as she said “Of course, I’ll just talk to captain and you and me figure out a date.”

 

“A date huh?”

 

“Yeah, like… if it’s a Wednesday or a Saturday or…” completely missing Lauren’s play on her choice of words. 

 

“Okay, yeah that sounds really great. Thank you, Camila.”

 

–

 

Kids were exhausting. They had. so. many. questions. Camila had to came up with so many vague answers because she just didn’t know enough about a lot of things. Those kids asked hard questions, okay? About codes, and training, and ranks and laws that people think are laws but actually aren’t. One kid asked her which branch the police was part of. And Camila just looked at Lauren, who raised an eyebrow. “Uhm… olive branch?” Camila just shrugged, leaving the child severely confused.

 

When she realized the kid was referring to the branches of government, Camila just hit her forehead with her palm. 

 

The Q&A hour came to an end and all the kids lined up neatly to shake Camila’s hand and say thank you. Lauren took a picture of each kid standing next to Camila, her detective badge around their neck. She was glad she remembered to grab at least that. It covered up the kid’s disappointment of her not wearing a police uniform. 

 

–

 

“Hey thanks, that turned out better than I thought it would, considering the circumstances.”

 

“No problem, thank you for having me.”

 

Lauren and Camila were standing outside, drinking another coffee while the kids were running around playing tag and soccer. 

 

“So listen, I was uhm… wondering if I could have your phone number?”

 

Lauren looked at the other girl surprised.

 

“Oh… ehm… what for?”

 

“Oh, just so we can organize the precinct date and all. I think it’s best if we propose some dates and an idea of what the kids would like to check out and learn. Then captain can just give us a go for one of those days.”

 

 

“So you’d be the one showing us around?”

 

“I mean, yes. If you’d want. I mean, the kids kinds know me know so it might be cool to have a familiar face showing them around. Some things I’d let other people explain but I think I can be a pretty good tour guide. I promise I’ll be better prepared” she ended with a chuckle. 

 

“Okay, yes. That sounds perfect.”

 

They proceeded to drink their coffee and watch the kids run uncoordinated laps around each other. 

 

–


	5. Chapter 5

„I’m glad to see you make more of an effort with community outreach, Cabello. Didn’t think I’d see you giving children a tour of the precinct, ever. I like the attitude. Keep it up.“

„Thanks, Captain. I appreciate it.“

„I thought you’d take a break after you busted that prostitution ring with Hansen last week.

You’ve been at it 24/7 it seems after your break and the community center day. So to see you do something for others on your day off… it’s something“ the Captain gave Camila an approving nod.

Camila smiled, but she was close to falling asleep. After her talk at the community center she had been thrown into the case of another detective. They were not getting anywhere and Camila had been sent to kind of save the day. She was street wise and knew people from her youth that were indirectly connected to the case. They had tried to bust a prostitution ring and struggled to get any good leads.

When Camila got on the case, it was only a matter of days before they’d eventually bust the pimp. Camila knew someone who knew someone who kinda owed her so she let her connections work and got the team the names and places they needed to make the necessary arrest.

How she did it, no one asked. She always said she needed to protect her sources, to keep their trust. Captain didn’t care. He ordered results and Camila always delivered.

After double shifts for 7 days straight she was close to falling asleep standing up. The fact that she didn’t use the time after her last case to properly rest didn’t help either. She mentally scolded herself for forgetting a bit of a pick me up at home.

The kids from Lauren’s youth group were just getting some patches and stickers as a goodbye present and Dinah took a picture of all of them in front of a police car. When Camila joined her, the other detective leaned over and whispered in her ear „So green eyes must have really rocked your world if you’re doing all this for her little youth group, huh?“

„Shut up!“ Camila shushed her. „I did it to make up for the fact that I kinda fucked up the Q&A thing at the center.“

„Fair enough, Lauren told me earlier that you were kind out of it.“

„You have no idea, I was a mess. But she was so cool about afterwards that I really needed to do something.“

„Like her?“

„What ‚like her‘?“

„You should do her. I know you want to. And you said she liked it so…“ Dinah winked before she went over to Lauren to hand her back her phone.

Camila stood there with her mouth open. Trying to be offended but them remembering that she had told Dinah that they had sex.

Lauren smiled from her from a couple of feet away while listening to Juan talk about how much fun he had. When they were about to leave, all the kids went to shake Camila’s and Dinah’s hand to say thank you. A few of them hugged her. Camila was a bit stunned at that. Lauren ushered them into the bus Camila had organized through the department.

When all the kids where on the bus and Lauren had made sure everyone was there, she got off and went to say goodbye to Camila, who was standing outside the bus doors.

„So we’re all ready. Thank you again for organizing all of this. The kids had so much fun. I really appreciate it“ she finished and gave Camila a squeeze to the arm.

The touch gave Camila goosebumps, the good kind. She was glad she was wearing long sleeves.

„It- It’s the least I can do“ she looked at her feet when she felt her cheeks getting red.

When she looked up looked into a pair of green eyes that were looking so intently at her, that she felt like they could see every cell in her body. Camila felt exposed. But somehow she did’t mind too much.

„Listen, Camila, I was wondering if you’d want to come to our family picnic next Sunday. Bring Dinah, she was so nice.“

Camila liked the way Lauren said her name and almost didn’t register the rest of the sentence

„Uh, sure! If we don’t have to work then we’ll be there.“

„Awesome“ Lauren gave her a small smile, before getting on the bus.

Suddenly, Camila felt awake.

–

“Camila, will you calm down?”

“I AM CALM!”

“Obviously…” Dinah said unconvinced.

“Listen can I just buy a salad?”

“Noooo, it’s a picnic. You have to bring something homemade.”

“I can bring something else that’s homemade!” Camila exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah?” Dinah replied surprised.

“Yeah me and this girl Tamarah made a little film at made my place and-“ she was cut off by

Dinah screaming “EW, CHANCHO” into the phone. “Camila that is gross! It’s just a fucking salad.

You’ll manage. Byeeee” and she hung up.

Camila stared down at the mess in front of her. It looked nothing like what her grandmother used to make. It kind of looked like one of those videos where the guy makes a meal and it starts off normal and then suddenly he’s smashing everything and throws fish in the toilet and eggs on the ground and everything is gross.

She had three more hours till she had to be at the picnic. She had no idea what she was going to do. Maybe she could just bring an extension cord, her microwave and a couple of packs of hot pockets?

“Uuughhh”she groaned. “I can’t believe I’m doing this” she muttered as she scrolled through her phone.

It took a few rings for the person on the other line to pick up.

“Good morning, Camila!” a cheery voice said.

“Hi… Lauren?”

“The one and only. What’s up?”. The brunette was in a great mood. The sun was shining, almost all parents are able to come to the picnic and the Arroz con Pollo she made had turned out amazing. She was putting the finishing touches on some Ropa Vieja when she saw Camila’s name flash up on her screen.

“So… you said to bring something homemade to the picnic. Ehm… and I was going to make a salad but turns out I’m kind of a shitty cook and I tried, I really tried but it looks like… shit. It looks like shit and I can’t do it and now I don’t know what to do because the last time I cooked something myself that wasn’t a hot pocket was in like 1875 and I don’t know what to do, can I buy something and just pretend I made it, pleaaassee?”

“Woah woah, slow down!” Lauren had a hard time suppressing a chuckle. She felt kind of bad for the other girl. “What kind of food do you usually eat at home?”

“Take out.”

Lauren had to chuckle at that. “Okay, what else?”

“Hm… hot pockets and uh… Bananas!”

“See, we can work with that. Just make banana pancakes. It’s super easy.”

“How?” Camila asked.

“What do you mean, how?”

“How do you make banana pancakes? Do you need a pan, because I don’t think I have one. I think I had one at some point but I burnt something in it and I had a hard time cleaning it so I just threw it away and-“ she wanted to explain further, although she had no idea what she was getting at.

“Okay, listen, her’s what you’re going to do.” Lauren cut her off. “Get a pen and paper.”

“Okay, one second.” Camila put the phone between her ear and shoulder and looked around for a pen and paper. She stepped on a lighter and cursed.

“Are you okay?” Lauren asked from the other end of the line.

She could hear random huffs and puffs and a couple of ‘fucking shit’s and ‘ew no gross’s from the cop.

“Okay got it!” Camila said proudly. What she actually had was an old eyeliner and the back of a pizza carton.

“Okay, so I want you to get 4 pounds of flour, 30 eggs, 2 gallons of milk and about 20 bananas. Get some blueberries too.”

“Okay, what do I do then?”

“Then you drive to my place and I’ll show you how to make them. Homemade only means you have to to make them yourself, it doesn’t matter whose house it’s at.” she chuckled at her joke.

“Okay, yes, okay I can do that. Thank you thank you thank you! See you soon!”

Camila was extremely relieved. She grabbed her stuff, took a picture of the shopping list to have it on her phone and rushed to her car. She had on a pair of cut of jeans and a black tank top with an old turquoise Miami Marlins Baseball shirt. And of course, a snap back and some sunglasses.

–

Camila was too excited to think about how fucking nervous she was going to be doing something so normal as cooking with a person she barely knew and that had eyes that knew all her secrets.

Okay, those eyes didn’t know anything about Camila, really. She never talked about herself much.

Or talked much at all. Unless she was nervous. Which she was around Lauren, like, all the time.

Anyways, she felt like Lauren could read her mind when she looked at her with those beautiful, shiny, deep, amazing green-

“Jesus, Camila, get your motherfucking shit together” she said to herself.

She was parked outside of Lauren’s house. She was parked there for 10 minutes already. Shopping bags on the passenger seat. Looking at the house, then at the bags, then at the crumbling ceiling of her car.

_Come ooooonnn_

She finally gathered all her courage, got out of the car, walked around to the passenger side and got the bags. She slowly walked over to the door and lifted and rang the doorbell with her elbow, since her hands were occupied with two very heavy bags.

Nothing happened and she rang again.

_Fuck it’s still broken_

She was about to kick the door with her foot when it suddenly opened which made Camila kick thin air and almost stumble backwards. When she found her footing again she was looking at Lauren.

Lauren in black short shorts with white paint stains one them and a black, tight long sleeve top with so much cleavage showing, Camila was sure she’d have to pray the rosary on repeat for a couple of years before god would forgive her for the thoughts she was having at the sight.

“I was wondering when you’d get out of the car” Lauren said with a smirk.

Camila’s dark brown eyes snapped up the green eyed one’s.

Lauren hadn’t caught her staring. Right?

“I- I had to uh-“

“That looks like way more then two pounds and thirty eggs” Lauren cut Camila off and nodded at the two bags lining Camila’s sides.

“Yeah I just grabbed as much as I could carry to be honest…” Camila said shyly.

“Hah, okay. Well let’s get started, shall we?”

Lauren walked into the house and it took Camila a few seconds before she realized that the ass she was now looking at was getting smaller and smaller.

She stepped into the house, shutting the door with her foot and hurrying to the kitchen to catch up with Lauren. It smelled heavenly. And Camila was hit with memories of her grandmother making her favorite dishes whenever she came back from school. Camila let out a sad sigh.

“You okay?” Lauren asked with a worried look.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m fine. Just remembered something. Anyway, where uh should I put these?” Camila played it off and lifted the bags in her hands.

“Just put everything on the counter here” Lauren gestured to a an empty part of the counter that was facing the living room. Camila dumbed out the bags and Lauren sorted the jumbled mess into categories. When everything was lined up neatly, Camila expectantly turned her face to Lauren. Hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels, Camila looked like a shy teenage boy, asking out his crush to prom.

“So, I think, to ease you into this  _neeew_   _world of cooking_ …” Lauren said with wide eyes, her hands gesturing at an invisible sign above her head “…you’re going to start cutting up bananas and I’ll make the pancake batter. But I want you to watch and I’ll explain what I’m doing, okay?”

Camila nodded eagerly.

They set up everything so they could start with their little lesson and while Lauren patiently explained how to mix everything together, Camila cut the Bananas into slices. She really tried to pay attention to both things but when Lauren dipped her index finger into the batter and licked it off with small  _plop_ Camila knees buckled momentarily and she cut into her finger.

Camila hadn’t noticed until Lauren rushed over with a gasp and pulled Camila to the sink.

“Shit. Does it hurt?!” she asked worriedly.

“Does what hurt?” Camila hadn’t taken her eyes off Lauren’s mouth.

“Your finger, Camila!” Lauren looked at her like she was crazy.

That’s when Camila noticed the blood oozing from the top of her middle finger.

“Oh.” is all that she could bring out.

“Oh?”

“Do you have a band aid?” Camila said with a calm voice, now finally looking at Lauren’s eyes.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Nah, not really. I had worse.” Camila said nonchalantly.

“Just… keep it under the water and I’ll get you something.”

Lauren rushed into the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit She hoped Camila wouldn’t noticed that it was still the almost empty kit from two weeks ago. She dried off Camila’s hands with some kitchen towels and pressed down on the wound to help stop the bleeding. As she wrapped one hand around Camila’s finger and one hand held Camila’s hand steady, she couldn’t help but notice how delicate and beautiful the smaller girl’s hands were. The little time she knew Camila, she always thought of her of kind of ruff and tough and not at all as delicate. She felt kind of bad about it, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

Camila stared at her hand in Lauren’s. Lauren’s hold on her was gentle, like Camila’s hand was something precious that would break instantly, if you’d hold on to tightly.

They stood like that for a minute or so before the noise of a lawn mower starting from outside made them both snap out of their thoughts.

“Uh, I think we can put the band aid on now.” Lauren said, trying to bring normalcy back to the situation.

“Okay” Camila just answered, almost breathlessly.

Lauren placed a band aid on the wound and made sure it was sitting in place properly.

She did it with such care that Camila got goosebumps. It had been a while since anyone was this gentle with her.

When the moment was over they both went back to work on the pancakes.

An hour later they had a big tupperware full of delicious banana and blueberry pancakes.

Camila even managed to make a few pancakes herself. And although she burnt the first few, she got the hang it soon and even managed to flip one over in the pan. Lauren clapped excitedly at the little trick. Camila got more relaxed by the minute and by the time they were packing everything into Camila’s car, her mouth was a little bit less dry.

Lauren’s car had broken down a couple of days earlier. She hadn’t bothered to get it towed and looked at yet because she was so busy preparing the first picnic of the summer. So Camila having a large enough car to securely transport both the two girls and all the food, was a blessing.

“You know I could have a look at it, if you’d like.”

“You know how to fix cars?” Lauren asked surprised as she loaded the last load of food into the trunk of Camila’s jeep.

“I mean, yeah. I’m not a trained mechanic but your car is old enough to still be counted as an actual car and not a robot” Camila laughed. “So, yeah. I can look at it and at least let you know what would need to be done.”

“That would be so great, thank you so much!”

“No problem” Camila smiled all cool.

–

“I camnt beveef you mave these” Dinah said through a full mouth of pancakes.

“Gross, Dinah” Camila crinkled her nose at her partner across the table.

After Dinah swallowed the huge bite she continued “I never thought you can bake. Do you even have an oven?”

“Shut up, Dinah. Yes I have an oven. And I can’t bake. Well I can now, a bit. Lauren helped me.”

“Lauren was at your apartment?! What you do, hold your gun to her head? Because you know we’re not supposed to do that.”

“No, Dinah. I did not hold a gun to her head. I asked her for help. And we baked at her’s”.

Imagine the loudest laugh a single person can let out. Now double it. Now multiply it by 10.

That’s how loud Dinah laughed at the sentence.

“You-“ she huffed, hammering her fist on the picnic table “-asked-“ she let out with another huff “for help?” Dinah let out, followed by another loud laugh.

“Shutthefuckupdinah” Camila mumbled at her aggressively.

“I’m sorry!” Dinah said with another laugh and calmed herself down.

“Sorry, Mila. But you asking for help is like… me not being funny. It just never happens.”

“Yeah well right now you’re not funny at all so I think we’re even” Camila said annoyed.

“Man, she really did give it to you good, huh?”

“Shut. up. Dinah” Camila said under her breath when she saw Lauren walk over to their table with a couple of parents.

The rest of the picnic was spent with Camila trying to keep Dinah saying something suggestive to Lauren about Camila, Camila and Dinah patiently answering parent’s and children’s questions and Camila trying not to tear up at any bite of Lauren’s food because it tasted so much like her grandmother’s.

Camila missed her so much today. She’d know what to do. She’d tell Camila what is happening to her. Why she had no problem not taking her usual upper this morning. Why her heart beat much faster when she had Lauren’s eyes meet her’s. Why, no matter how much water she drank, her mouth always went dry around the other woman. Why she suddenly wanted to do something for someone other than herself. Why she made sure that every piece of clothing she wore that day was actually clean. Like, freshly washed clean.

When the children and parents had left and Dinah bid her farewell, Camila started to help Lauren clean up any trash that was left behind. They had picked up what little mess was left and started to put the tupperware and bowls in the back of Camila’s Jeep.

“Are you sure you’re okay with driving me home? Everything is empty now I can carry it or take a uber.”

“Of course I’m sure. It’s the least I can do. Thanks to you, I don’t ever have to order take out again” Camila said with a wide smile.

“Hahah, okay. So you’re going to eat banana pancakes for the rest of your life?”

Camila shrugged and smiled: “Sure, bananas are my favorite food.”

Lauren just had to laugh at the and shook her head as she stored away the last bowls.

All they had left to do was put away some folding chair and tables. They hadn’t noticed the dark clouds now covering the sky and when it started raining like the end of the world was near, Lauren had urged Camila to just wait it out with her under the roof of the community center entrance.

Camila wasn’t having it though and just carried table and after table and chair after chair into the storage room. By the time she was done she was wet to her underwear. And not in the good way.

–

“You’re crazy, you’re going to have the worst cold!”

Lauren shook her head as a drenched Camila got into the driver’s seat and closed the car door behind her.

“Nah, I never get a cold.” Camila said with a shrug of her shoulder. She turned on her ignition and turned the knob on the radio to find a station.

They drove in silence, the road in front of them barely visible.

When some song Camila didn’t know ended and another started with the sound of a beer can being opened, she had to smile to herself. She loved that song.

She was taken by surprise when the intro was over and the girl next to her started singing the first verse along with the singer in perfect harmony.

_Bite your face to spite your nose_

_17 and a half years old_

_Worrying about my brother finding out_

_Where’s the fun in doing what you're told?_

Lauren smiled over to Camila as the pre-chorus started and soon enough they were both singing along loudly.

–

“See, I told you you’d get sick.”

“I’m sick alright” Camila said with a smirk, shaking her fist, pinky and thumb stuck out, as if she was a cool surfer.

“Ha. Ha. Really funny” Lauren said, trying to sound annoyed. She kind of liked the other girl’s cheesy humour.

“Lauren”  _sneeze_  “Really”  _sneeze_  “I-I-“ double  _sneeze_  “I’m totally fine”  _sneeze_.

Lauren shook her head and headed into her bed room.

“I’ll just go home, pop an aspirin or something, eat an orange. I’ll be fine!” Camila called after her.

When Lauren came back she dropped a dry pair of panties, some big warm socks, some sweatpants and an oversized The 1975 sweater in Camila’s lap.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

**Author's Note:**

> I probably will update this more on wattpad 
> 
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/137558109-miami-vice


End file.
